Catholic Leaders Speak about Planned Parenthood

Through the years, a number of Catholic leaders have made specific
statements concerning the organization Planned Parenthood. Presented below
are some of those statements. You may forward others you know of to Stop
Planned Parenthood (STOPP), to whom we
are grateful for providing these excerpts.

Planned Parenthood has a history of distorting the truth. On October 3, 1980
it ran an advertisement in the New York Times with the headline: "There Is A
Group That Would Sooner See You Dead Than Allow You An Abortion." Another
Times ad on October 5, 1980 was headlined: "There Is A Group That Would
Force You To Bear Your Rapist's Child." And, on January 5 [1997] Planned
Parenthood ran a full-page ad in the Times insinuating that pro-life people
are terrorists and provocateurs. These claims are, of course, nonsense.

In addition to lies about pro-lifers, Planned Parenthood also distorts the
truth about itself. It claims to be "pro-choice" while fighting against informed
consent legislation that would ensure women are told the truth about abortion. I
find it difficult to take any Planned Parenthood claim seriously.

John Cardinal O'Connor
Archbishop of New York
19 January 1995

Anyone who supports, belongs to, [or] sits on Boards of Directors of Planned
Parenthood are promoting the legacy of Margaret Sanger which is the outline for
Nazi Germany's "human weeds and genetically inferior races."

...I hope you will raise an indignant cry against this cancer in our society.

The faithful are prohibited from maintaining membership in any condemned,
prohibited or disapproved societies or organizations. These include ... Planned
Parenthood ... Any members of the Diocese of Lincoln who retain membership in
[Planned Parenthood] after having learned of [its] forbidden nature, are bound
by an automatic interdict after the passage of one month. If after the passage
of a second month, they have likewise failed to dissociate themselves from
membership, they are bound by an automatic excommunication. This means they may
not participate in the sacramental life of the Church, and, if their membership
is public and well known, then other ecclesiastical rites may likewise be denied
to them.

As your bishop and shepherd, I ask all Catholics not to use Planned
Parenthood's services, not to belong to any of their boards, not to serve as a
volunteer and not to be employed there. In resigning your employment there, I
will be happy to assist you in finding employment elsewhere so you will not be
cooperating in these immoral practices and being a source of scandal both within
and outside the Church and community. I make this plea, in love, as my duty to
continue the mission of Jesus Christ: to teach, to sanctify and to govern.

Most Rev. John W. Yanta
Bishop of Amarillo, Texas
1 October 1998

The move of Planned Parenthood near a high school, day care and church is
abhorrent and disturbing. . . [We must educate people on] what Planned
Parenthood is, what it is about, what the effects of abortion are.

Most Rev. Robert Carlson
Bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
3 January 2000
(commenting on relocation of PP abortion facility)

From its inception, in philosophy and actions, Planned Parenthood has been
contrary to Catholic teaching about the sanctity of life and its origin in the
heart and mind of God.

Roger Cardinal Mahony
Archbishop of Los Angeles
23 February 2000

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the largest promoter of
abortion in the United States. Through their extensive sex education programs
and their teen website, teenwire.com, PPFA targets youth and young adults,
educating them that any and all forms of sexual expression are not only valid
but encouraged.

Not only is Planned Parenthood responsible for countless abortions, leaving
so many women hurting after the loss of their children, the organization is
largely responsible for our culture's disintegrating respect for traditional
marriage in exchange for "partnerships" and "sexual self-expression." The goals
of Planned Parenthood are made painfully clear in the statement of Gloria Feldt,
as quoted in the Washington Times, January 22, 1997, "Reproductive choices
(including abortion) are not just legal rights but are recognized as moral
necessities without which there can be no liberty."

Most Rev. William J. Levada
Archbishop of San Francisco
1 March 2000

In 1991, as bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, I had personal experience
with Planned Parenthood seeking to intrude itself into western South Dakota. I
spoke at a STOPP national convention in Rapid City. In my talk, I noted that
Planned Parenthood is "not a friend of the family ... It is a pro-abortion
organization with a set of values vastly different from the values of Jesus
Christ. I would certainly reaffirm that conviction today.

Planned Parenthood is an organization based on falsehoods about the human
person, the family and community life.

Planned Parenthood calls itself pro-child. When a minor comes to Planned
Parenthood, she is provided information on contraception and abortion
without parental notification. A minor is given materials on sexuality with
an implicit message that fertility is a disease and pregnancy is to be
attacked. Planned Parenthood opposes any restriction on abortion of the
unborn child through nine months of pregnancy. Planned Parenthood opposes a
Partial Birth Abortion Ban. In light of this, how can Planned Parenthood
justify calling itself pro-child?

Planned Parenthood calls itself pro-woman. Yet Planned Parenthood vigorously
opposes any legislation to provide advance medical information pertaining to
an abortion procedure. Planned Parenthood vigorously opposes any legislation
to provide a woman seeking an abortion knowledge of her unborn child's
development. Planned Parenthood vigorously opposes any legislation to
require a 24 hour waiting period before a woman has an abortion. How can
Planned Parenthood justify keeping vital information on abortion away from a
woman and yet call itself pro-woman? How can an organization which helps to
facilitate the killing of unborn children in huge numbers call itself
pro-woman?

Planned Parenthood calls itself pro-family. Yet it simultaneously provides
counsel for contraception and abortion under the guise of "freedom of
choice." The two questions to ask are: "choice for what and choice for
whom?" Planned Parenthood vigorously opposes any law that would inform
parents before a minor child receives contraception or an abortion. How can
Planned Parenthood justify calling itself pro-family when it intrudes itself
between a child and parent?

I would urge any community today, as I did in 1991, to defend itself against
Planned Parenthood by every legal and ethical means at its disposal.

Planned Parenthood's record over the years leaves no room for any doubt
whatsoever regarding its ideological stance on human life and family issues. It
is a stance diametrically opposed to Christian truth regarding the sanctity of
each human life from the moment of conception onward, the unbreakable God-given
bond between the unitive and procreative purposes of sexual activity, and the
unique role of monogamous, heterosexual marriage as the only legitimate context
of genital expression.

More than any other single organized group today, Planned Parenthood
International represents the hedonism and moral relativism which are fueling
that "culture of death" which Pope John Paul II has warned against and denounced
throughout his pontificate. I warmly endorse and support the efforts of STOPP to
counteract the influence and activity of this evil organization.

I denied Planned Parenthood access to this campus not because of what they
say, but because of what they do. They are one of the largest abortion providers
in the United States and have an aggressive political agenda to promote this.
The Catholic Church interprets abortion as "the killing of an innocent."
According to this interpretation, I consider Planned Parenthood's actions to be
blatantly contrary to the Catholic and Jesuit character of the University and to
its mission.

Our Guest Speakers Policy states, "The President reserves the right to deny
usage of Gonzaga's facilities to any person or groups of persons whose values
are blatantly contrary to those of the University or whose presence would, for
some reason, seriously embarrass or compromise the University." In as much as
Gonzaga is a Catholic and Jesuit University, and Planned Parenthood's actions
are blatantly contrary to this Catholic and Jesuit identity, I exercised my
right as President to deny usage of Gonzaga's facilities to them.